HOW TAX BREAKS HELP US SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT.

Last year, Congress nearly obliterated one of the tax deductions CURE is relying on to purchase fallow lands in Riverside’s greenbelt. This land would be placed in conservation easements in perpetuity for agricultural purposes. Under the current tax code, wealthy people can take tax deductions when they donate land for conservation. But not every property owner with environmentally sensitive land can afford to make such a contribution or needs a large tax deduction. In these instances, the Internal Revenue Code allows property owners to enter into partnerships with investors who, in fact, can use the deduction and, by doing so, generate monies for long-term conservation. These are complicated transactions requiring appraisers, biologists and tax experts.

CURE has teamed up with the Partnership 4 Conservation to work on preserving this option for conservation. We salute and appreciate the recent donation of the Dangermonds to The Nature Conservancy allowing the purchase of the Bixby Ranch. But those large donations are rare. In the case of preserving the Greenbelt, CURE will need many contributions from a variety of sources to make our plan for sustainable agriculture a reality. Please read more from The Atlantic . . . .